While there was a very perfunctory invitation to the funeral of the Guardians of the Globe extended to me by Cecil, I declined. Chiefly due to the fact that for all that I’d thrown myself into the superheroic lifestyle, I very much was an outsider to the community at large. Outside of the GDA and Teen Team, I’d barely met any of the other superheroes, let alone actually been all that active outside of Chicago.
It’d be intrusive to a degree that I couldn’t quite name to just show up, especially for a funeral for people that I didn’t personally know. Aquarius, Darkwing, the Martian, the Immortal, and War Woman were all figures I’d never had the privilege to meet. I was, for all intents and purposes, just another in a long line of alien, extradimensional visitors to the planet.
At least until I properly rooted myself in this new reality of mine.
That said, it wasn’t as if I was sitting in my apartment like a lump the entire time. Cecil was the one that gave me a call when I was in the middle of doing something I probably didn’t need to do: pirating comic books online. Was I technically stealing the profits from hardworking comic artists and authors? Yes. Was I going to stop, considering the ease of access of having all those comics available at my fingertips? No, I really wasn’t planning on it.
Holding up my phone with one hand, I scrolled through Seance Dog #3. The comic book was definitely some kind of pastiche of Doctor Strange and, I dunno, anthro-style comics like Blacksad? But I liked it fine, since the amount of work put into the hermetic mysticism was pretty interesting.
“Y’ello, Genji speaking.”
“Starting your criminal career early in the morning, huh?” Cecil’s familiar voice snarked in my ear.
It wasn’t the first time I’d suspected that the GDA was watching my internet history, but it was still nice to have the confirmation. “You’ve caught me in the middle of my dastardly plan. Might as well send the Guardians over to arrest me.”
Then we both paused as I realized what came out of my mouth. “Fuck. Yeah, that was kind of sensitive, sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”
“It’s fine,” he said in the tone that someone used when it wasn’t really fine, but you didn’t feel like arguing with or admonishing the other person. “But we’ve got more interesting things for you to do if you’re finding yourself with that much free time. Threats and little hotspot issues that your assistance would be appreciated with.”
Pausing, I pursed my lips at the idea of actually doing something a bit more productive. “What did you have in mind?”
As it turned out, there was no small amount of literal and metaphorical fires that needed to be put out around the world on a regular basis. I spent the rest of the day flying across the globe, dipping out of the atmosphere when I really wanted to cut loose with my speed to get somewhere quickly. Because with some of the things I was doing, every second counted. Natural disaster relief and rescue, when I could wave my hand and divert floodwaters with shinjutsu. Picking up crying men, women, and children thanking me in languages that I didn’t know from boats that were capsizing in the water, and so on.
Stopping a blazing conflagration with an errant glance, I gently informed the firefighters at a formerly burning building that the people inside were already dead.
I didn’t have Superman’s full suite of superhuman senses, but my eyes were of a kind that he might have only dreamed of when it came to the full range of my sight. The Byakugan were marvels in every sense of the word, but now that I was actually engaging with what I saw, there were a million different tragedies playing out every second of every day.
And people did this for a living.
They went out there in their funny costumes and did their best to save people in a neverending spree each and every day, knowing full well the root causes wouldn’t be going anywhere. Right up until it was suddenly, out of nowhere, over.
“That’s a wrap for the day, kid.”
“Huh?” I was hefting up a massive piece of rubble, helping with the cleanup of a collapsed building somewhere in Mexico City. With chakra adhesion, I spread a layer over the entire massive wall of concrete I held in my hands, basically mimicking tactile telekinesis.
With my free hand I adjusted the communicator in my ear. “There’s gotta be more, right?”
“There’s always another thing,” Cecil informed me. “However, getting burned out is a very real thing. And you’ve been doing this for sixteen hours straight.”
No, wait, it’d just been… the early afternoon, hadn’t it?
Looking around as first responders streamed into the opening to pull out people from the building, I could tell that it was dark out. I’d started working on the task and just hadn’t…well, done much of anything else. When you didn’t need to eat, sleep, or breathe, time could pass you by in a blur.
“I’ve been going for that long. Didn’t even notice.”
“I figured, when you didn’t stop for a break. Your people are hardy, huh?”
“I could still keep going, honestly. Maybe I should.”
“Maybe,” he conceded. “But you’ve already gone above and beyond for what you should have done. I’ll wait to run you into the ground when the world can’t keep for a moment longer.”
That was also true. There was a possible obligation that someone could argue that I had to help. It wasn’t as if I was incapable of it. But just because I could doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t suffer some kind of catastrophic burnout eventually. Even my people, with our fundamental lack of needs, still needed to pay attention. Sometimes taking a step away from a thing was the best possible course of action.
As soon as the first responders had confirmed that there was no one else in the building with my assistance, I huffed, hating to concede that Cecil was in fact correct.
“...I’ll call it here for the night.”
“Good. You’ve done some outstanding work today, truly. But things should hopefully get better with some stuff I’ve got in the works.”
As I took off into the air, giving a wave to some scattered applause and cheers in Spanish from those saved by my efforts, I hummed thoughtfully at his words. “Anything you can share?”
“You’ll probably hear about it in the coming days. For now, take a load off.”
Fair enough.
Flying back to Chicago, I had enough time alone with my thoughts to really think about the day in brief. How I’d have done things better, using my powers more effectively or with a wider reach. Puppets, even if only for my own personal use if the GDA didn’t want to pick them up, would be a good investment to expand the number of people I could help and seal away when I didn’t need them.
I still had the puppet I’d created for the demonstration the other day, so it wasn’t a prospect that was unfeasible. It’d be a worse version of me in almost every respect, but a superhuman helper had a lot of merits and usages. Even past that was the fact that I could be properly programming in helpful jutsu that I should also be using myself.
There wasn’t any reason why I couldn’t be using medical jutsu to heal people either. Molding medicinal chakra wasn’t hard for someone with control on my scale. The capacity to look inside of people at a glance to spot injuries and sickness would be the next logical step of how to use my abilities. As it went on, I realized there was always going to be something more I could do to help.
Sometimes I wondered if Superman had problems like this. If he had moments where he thought about everything that he could do, if he just gave up any semblance of a normal life. There were a lot of comic books and cartoons that showed him struggling with that work-life balance, but ultimately it was a question that proved ultimately subjective.
How much help was owed, really, if you could do so much more than other people? Some would argue everything, and others would argue even that had limits as a presumption.
That was the thought that carried me home as I landed at my apartment, entering carefully to not be seen. Though as I walked past the mirror near the front door of my apartment, I had a good glimpse at the traditional robes that I’d come to earth in. And their condition was…
Well, it left something to be desired. Not that it wasn’t good in its own right or durable, but they’d been getting dirty and, honestly, were so at odds with the rest of the costumes I’d seen on the planet so far. One of my first upcoming purchases might be a proper costume.
For tonight I stripped, took a shower, and fell into a deep, dreamy slumber. The only things I recalled by the morning were all the faces of the people that I couldn’t save, who died before I could get to them.
When the morning came, I awoke to a text message from Robot, asking me to come to the Teen Team headquarters. Just for the sake of clearing my mind, I was happy to jaunt over as soon as I could and clear my first full day of superheroing out of my mind.
While Robot was many things, I didn’t think he’d give me even more to make my head spin this quickly.
[hr][/hr]
“I’d like you to attend the tryouts for the new Guardians of the Globe.”
I blinked. “Let’s back up. I feel as if there’s a part of this conversation we might have skipped past.”
“My apologies, I should have explained with more context,” Robot conceded with a slight nod. “Cecil Stedman has granted me authority to run the next iteration of the Guardians of the Globe, under GDA stewardship and support.”
That was news to me. Then again, it probably shouldn’t be. Cecil didn’t seem like the type of guy to let loose an iota more information than you needed to know. And frankly, I hadn’t needed to know right up until this moment.
“That’s big news, bro." I commented, smiling widely as I reached out to slap him on the shoulder of his current automaton. “But you’ve been running the Teen Team as a tight ship, from what I can tell. If there’s anyone who deserves it, it's probably you. Congratulations.”
Straightening up ever so slightly, Robot nodded. “Your thanks are appreciated and noted. Regardless, this brings us back to the crux of the topic at hand.”
“The tryouts, for this new Guardians of the Globe.” A frown creased over my features as I gathered my hands behind my head, thinking it over. “Isn’t it a bit soon? Their bodies are practically still warm.”
“The timing could be more opportune, yes, but the reality is that the threats to the globe do not stand still,” Robot admitted, the faintest hint of chagrin in his voice. “If earth is to be kept safe, we need decisive action and stout new defenders who can rise to the occasion.”
“Ergo, inviting me.”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure you don’t have me mixed up with someone else, though?” I asked, still feeling a touch blindsided.
He shook his head, if only so incrementally that I barely picked it up. “I’m positive. Out of the pool of possible candidates, I think it’d be good if you at least made an appearance.”
“...Just seems a little premature.”
In the abstract it wasn’t hard to imagine why he’d picked me; I was definitely strong enough to make a meaningful difference when it came to my powers and capabilities. That wasn’t arrogance at work, either. Just plain facts of the matter, based off what I’d largely observed of the other superheroes around me. Few of them could match me in sheer utility or breadth of capabilities.
Most of them had one thing they were very, very good at. That wasn’t a failing on their part, mind you. Just an indictment on how stupidly versatile chakra was as a power system, compared to whatever fueled the abilities of this world.
However, I was also very new to the planet. Gesturing to my chest as we stood in the entrance of the Teen Team’s base, I stared at Robot, as if that impassive face of his would have given anything away. “Is strength the only qualifier you’re looking for? Because being a member of the Guardians of the Globe seems like it's a bigger deal than just that. I’ve barely been on this planet for very long.”
“Indeed, but you shouldn’t discount yourself. During the Flaxan invasion, you acquitted yourself incredibly well across multiple different combat encounters, while also prioritizing saving civilian lives,” Robot commented, and I preened that someone had noticed my work there.
Continuing on, the rust-colored construct gestured my way. “Additionally, the prior roster of the Guardians passed because they lacked the strength to fight whatever slew them originally.” With a touch more gravity, the mechanical construct leaned forward. “I don’t intend on allowing any of my allies to suffer the same fate. As pragmatic as it may sound, you’re a potent force multiplier.”
Honestly couldn’t even blame him for that one. Apparently some of the Guardians needed closed-casket funerals, so getting a heavy hitter or two for the roster would be the intelligent move. Outside of Omni-Man and his son, I was probably one of the only heavy hitters on the planet that I knew of.
“I’m imagining that this isn’t a straight bypass of the actual trials.”
“You’d be correct,” he agreed with a nod, hands clasped behind his back. “But I doubt that the actual sparring matches would be something that you’d find yourself lacking in.”
Wait a minute.
“...A tournament ar—" I stopped myself from finishing the sentence with "arc," trying not to vibrate in excitement now that I saw the shape of what he had planned. “You wanted to decide this with a tournament?”
He inclined his head ever so slightly to the side. “That wouldn’t be the only thing we’d evaluate, as there are more factors beyond just combat capacity. But yes, it would resemble a tournament in some respects.”
Hell, I was already trying not to vibrate with excitement at the prospect. “Buddy, that’s all you needed to say!”
Who didn’t want to use an anime-derived power set in a goddamn tournament arc? I didn’t care if it technically wasn’t one in the traditional sense. My anime-obsessed ass was all over the concept alone.
“Really?” There was such a thick disbelief in his tone that I took the time to savor it, especially coming from someone with such a typical monotone speaking voice.
A big, broad grin was on my face as I beamed at the machine. “Robot, I love tournaments. I’ve always wanted to fight in one!”
It could almost see his circuits fitting together this new information into whatever mental model he possessed of me. Personally, I didn’t care too much. This was already sounding like it’d be a fun time if you disregarded all of the intense responsibility. Or the fact that we’d be replacing several powerful superhumans who still had their brutal murderer at large.
Everything was coming up, Genji, today! It was premature, but punching away my frustrations and anxieties was a great way to rid myself of all this stress.
There were all manner of superheroes present that I’d never once seen before. Given that they were coming from all over the globe, though, that did make sense. It wasn’t as if the original Guardians were limited only to America. Nor did the fundamental origin matter when the mission statement of the organization was overarching across all countries and territories.
It was weird to be part of a crowd where I did not in fact stand out, with the eclectic builds, hair colors, and costumes on display. All members of the Teen Team were present, along with Invincible to boot. A smart choice, seeing as trying to court Omni-Man’s son was a long-term investment for any group.
I didn’t know if his powers were diminished from his father's or if they were bound to grow with time. Either way, it was certainly something to keep in mind. Additionally, I did have something else I wanted to discuss with the teenager, which was why I walked up to him, waving a hand.
“Hey,” I greeted, walking up to Invincible with a smile. “Good to see you’re looking well, compared to the end of the invasion.”
“Oh! Hey man,” Invincible greeted back, looking just a bit nervous at my approach. “You’re looking…”
“Dashing? Criminally handsome? Eminently powerful?”
“Well, I was going to say you’re looking well,” he said, smiling awkwardly and rolling his eyes behind his mask.
With a snort, I jerked a thumb back at the crowd of hopefuls that’d gathered for the trials. “You here to go for the Guardians of the Globe too?”
“Oh, no,” he denied, shaking his head at the prospect. “Like I told Robot, I’ve already been missing too much school, and my dad’s trying to train me personally.”
I nodded in understanding at that much. “Ah, so your powers are heritable, then? Say less; I understand.”
“You do?” He asked, seemingly surprised by my easy acceptance.
“Completely. I’m part of an alien race, if you’re not aware, and while a lot of our abilities are instinctive, to reach our full potential, mentorship is very welcomed.”
He gave a thoughtful hum. “I guess that’s what my dad is doing for the most part. It’s a lot of weight to be under.”
“I can imagine. Being the son of the preeminent superhero in this world is a lot of responsibility to live up to.”
A low, rueful chuckle rolled out of his mouth. “You’ve got no idea.”
Something else did come to mind while I had Invincible present and probably feeling congenial. “And another thing…”
“Yeah?”
How did I want to start this part of the conversation…?
“The first time we met, I was emotional in a way that most of my people weren’t. With how callous the Flaxans were in their killing of civilians, destruction…” Pausing, I pushed away the memories of rage and gore-filled violence of that first day on earth. “What I’m saying is, I hope that didn’t give you the wrong idea about me.”
“I mean…” He glanced away, rubbing the back of his neck. “I won’t say that the killing sat right with me, because it didn’t. But the situation wasn’t one that I can blame you for, I guess? You were new to Earth and didn’t know our rules on that sort of thing. The Flaxans were kind of obvious bad guys, and you did end up saving a lot of people.”
“That’s one thing I’m certainly proud of.”
“So as long as you don’t go crazy with killing people like that again, I don’t think we’ll have any problems.”
That got a smile from me. I didn’t consider this brown-nosing, so much as it was just creating sensible connections with other superheroes. While I didn’t think any of the other Teen Team members shared my issues with dealing with the Flaxans, Invincible at least seemed to have strong scruples against how I’d done it.
Which was fine. Good even. It might be annoying sometimes, but I’d rather have someone with great power who was a little reticent about applying it with a heavy hand than someone who was too free with it. Especially as his father seemed to be the closest thing the planet had to a Superman analog.
“Good. I was hoping we could work together properly in the future.” I still found his opinion somewhat childish, personally, but he did sound young. It wasn’t as if we’d been fighting run-of-the-mill crooks, but outright military combatants who’d arrived to kill or enslave the local populace.
“Same,” Invincible smiled back.
Something struck me at that moment, as I remembered the other reason why I wanted to speak with him. “Oh! I also had a question, considering the quality of your costume. Any suggestions on where to get one done? I like my robes, but it’s a bit old-fashioned, I suppose, by the standards of your world.”
Looking me over, he could see what I was talking about as a wince came over him. “...Oof. I can see why, yeah. They’re not bad or anything, but they make you look like you’re about to start a cult.”
I did my best to not let whatever rude thing was behind my teeth out and instead prioritized being civil. “Can you link me up with your source, or is that like, some sort of social faux pas that I’m breaking among superheroes…?”
“No, no, I mean, I don’t think it is?” He looked pensive for a moment before shaking his head at the thought of it. "My father and I get our work done by Art Rosenbaum; he’s a great dude. Really made this suit iconic.”
It was indeed pretty iconic, which was why I was asking Invincible rather than anyone else. I mean, maybe I should have turned to Cecil with the question, but it was too late now.
“Art Rosenbaum, huh? What’s his number?”
After swapping details with Invincible, our idle chatter didn’t last long before Robot made a sort of electronic beeping with his body to get everyone’s attention. Standing as still as a statue, Robot got the proceedings started with the massive arena visible behind him.
“Thank you all for coming here today. The Guardians of the Globe were more than a group of heroes.”
Turning to look back, it was all they could do to see the massive, sprawling space that had probably been allotted for the actual practical combat trials. Smart, given how destructive superhuman brawls could be.
“They were icons. Those of you who pass our trials will be acknowledged as the elite, the best of the best our world has to offer. And needless to say, not all of you will be up to the challenge. Those of you who are up to the challenge will succeed not just by the uniqueness of your abilities but also by the ingenuity of your tactics, adaptability, the agility of your minds, and perhaps most importantly, the strength of your spirit.”
Taking a moment to pause, Robot let the weight of the Guardians’ absence wash over the room. That was my guess for what he was doing, anyway. “That is what truly makes a hero.”
It didn’t take long after that speech for the evaluations to begin in earnest. While it wasn’t in the truest sense of the word a tournament arc, it was close enough that I was still incredibly excited the entire affair.
Not that I was too impressed by the battles that took place in front of me, as my earlier excitement and glee began to diminish. Sure, the powers on display weren’t weak in the grand scheme of things. Many of them were more than enough to kill a normal human plenty of times over and completely ignore conventional arms.
They just didn’t have that pizzazz that I was hoping for. Nothing too exotic, with a few notable exceptions. While I’d suspected it before, this was a confirmation that this world’s power level was relatively low. At least compared to something like DC or Marvel. Not that the powers demonstrated weren’t novel in their own right.
Atom Eve had enough brains and experience using her powers to take out some massively muscled, blonde superhero with misdirection. Another, one I was unfamiliar with named Shrinking Rae, was small enough to enter inside someone’s body, a new and terrifying threat that I needed to be cautious of. There was even a returning member of the past Guardians who’d apparently lost his powers and was now fighting crime with the assistance of some kind of mechanized suit.
Overall, though, every match more or less went about how I’d expected, with even those that didn’t always have the most useful powers still being capable in the right situations. Was it probably better to be a Tony Stark or a Thor if you had a choice? Probably. But that didn’t mean a Hawkeye or Batman wasn’t useful sometimes too. When the time came for my own combat trial, I wasn’t expecting much. That didn’t mean I wasn’t being appropriately wary, mind you, in case my opponent was one of the scant few people on this planet who could put up a fight.
But by and large, I wasn’t holding my breath on it. When we both reached the arena, I took in my opponent with my Byakugan.
The man in front of me was apparently called Burly, and to be fair, I could understand why he’d either chosen or been given that moniker. He was huge, rippling with muscle that went just a touch beyond the normal for a human. Easily clearing six feet tall, he wore a set of mechanic’s coveralls that had the arms ripped off and the middle unzipped enough to expose a chest that was hairy in a way that beggared belief.
Hell, I didn’t even have hair below my neck. This guy was more hirsute than my entire fucking bloodline in either of my lives had been. Walking around barefoot, he looked like he was the result of some fucked-up breeding program between a human and a bigfoot. Given the kind of world we were in, that might have genuinely been his origin story.
“You ready?” I asked, standing across from him a fair distance, as I shot him a smile. “No hard feelings about anything that happens?”
“For sure, shrimpy,” he chuckled, crossing his massive arms. “I’ll be gentle.”
To which I could only give a small, humorless laugh as the noise to begin the match sounded off. Between blinks I was there, and I wasn’t even going my full speed. Or my full strength, as my left fist slammed into his diaphragm. He had the singular displeasure of being subjected to all of the air in his lungs being knocked out and reeled back toward the wall of the makeshift arena we were in.
I kept up the pressure, much as I didn’t take any particular pleasure in beating down someone who was so obviously weaker than me. Burly didn’t have to call me shrimpy, either, but I was sure he’d learn a lesson from this. If not, I’d always be happy to trade pointers with him again.
He fell to his knees, gasping for air as he tried to get back shakily to his feet. All while shooting me a wary look as he put his arms up in a guard.
“G-Guess I should have asked you to be gentle, huh?”
“Probably,” I smiled. “But don’t worry. I’ll be sure to keep your sterling looks intact.”
That was enough to get a pained laugh from the man. “Ha! I guess I earned that one.”
With neither of us having anything left to say at that point, he charged at me with a roar, throwing wild haymakers my way. I might as well have seen them from a million miles away, though. None of them had a chance of even remotely striking me, but I ducked around and through the blows anyway. It was just polite to give him the opportunity to show off.
When he was good and winded, I darted back in to deliver a series of precise blows. While the humans of this world didn’t have the tenketsu that would allow me to do some positively brutal gentle fist shenanigans entirely, they had enough pressure points to let me take them down nonlethally and painlessly.
…Mostly, I’d note, as I observed my handiwork with a dispassionate eye.
Burly lay on the ground, twitching.
“...Need a hand?”
“Yes,” he admitted, no small amount of shame in his tone as I picked up the limp guy and carried him out of the arena.
The rest of the bouts weren’t all that interesting, even if there were some incredibly creative displays of powers being shown off. However, in the end, everyone was gathered up once again at the main meeting space that had been overlooking the arena. Whatever data that Robot had been searching for or collating had obviously come to some head after all of the tryouts and matches.
…I was still disappointed that it wasn’t a straight-up tournament arc, though. If I managed to get in, I would definitely be pitching that as a future option for recruiting heroes moving forward. Not that pure combat capacity was everything, but… I was a sucker for someone who could throw down in a fight.
“It is my pleasure to introduce the new Guardians of the Globe. Black Samson, Shrinking Rae, Dupli-Kate, Rex-Splode, Taijitu,” I stepped forward along with everyone else, trying to banish the nervous energy from myself as Robot continued. “- And Monster Girl.”
The absence of Atom Eve from that listing felt conspicuous, but maybe I was reading too much into it. While her power was potent, there were possibilities and things at play that I wasn’t entirely read in on. Instead, I focused on the last of the bunch that was named.
Taking a step forward was a young girl, or at least she looked like that on the surface. Just by observing the amount of spiritual energy she possessed, it was closer to the amount that your average adult woman carried around. Between that and the more confident expression on her features, I was pretty sure there was more going on than met the eye.
Unfortunately for everyone present, Rex was a guy who saw things almost exclusively on a superficial level. It was a trait that, normally, I didn’t mind much. It did lead to some truly bad timing, though, as he broke out into outright laughter as Monster Girl presented herself along with all of the new recruits.
“Aww!” Bent over, hands on his knees, he looked over at her with an amused smirk. “Look at her, she’s adorable!”
Standing back up, he glanced back over at Robot. “Isn’t there, like, an age requirement for this ride?” Looking around, he tried to get confirmation. “Am I wrong? This seems weird, right?”
To which just about everyone just stared at him for the lack of decorum. Not unfairly, mind you, given that he’d been a bit of a prick about how he’d demonstrated whatever concerns he might have had. But the girl certainly didn’t seem to need anyone coming to her defense.
“I don’t know, you’re here. Isn’t there a dick size requirement?”
He reeled on the girl, totally flabbergasted. “I’m sorry wh—”
“For what, your tiny dick? I mean, the way you’ve been strutting around here, you must be compensating for something.”
There was a smirk on her face as her eyes drifted down to his groin, more amused than anything else. It was a level of confidence that carried through easily, as laughter escaped so many of the other superheroes present. Even I had to push down a chortle, as she had landed a genuinely good lesson.
Now, Rex’s response after did leave something to be desired, as he pulled out one of his tiny throwing discs, approaching with the likely intention of scaring her. I could feel in my bones that this wasn’t going to go how he thought it would. That said, no matter how much I liked Rex…some people made their beds. It didn’t matter how many times you told some people that a fire was hot, they wouldn’t believe it until they got burned.
Let’s just say something in my gut told me he was about to get burned.
“Somebody ought to teach you some motherfuu—What the fuuu—"
Whatever Rex was about to say was quite thoroughly stopped, in a very literal sense, as the girl’s arm began to transform. Light oscillated around it as I witnessed the fascinating telltale signs of an outright physical transformation. The spiritual energy of Monster Girl remained the same, but the actual body was…
Well, it was transforming into something inhuman, or at least her arm did, as it slammed against Rex’s face and sent him flying through the glass window. Out into the arena, he landed painfully, rolling to a stop.
Monster Girl followed suit, leaping to the ground with a lot more mass than I’d expected.
“Guess you missed my tryout,” she smugly stated, and it was true, I hadn’t had my eyes on all day. It was just my luck that the moment I’d turned them off for whatever idle reason had been the moment I’d missed this.
Thankfully, I wasn’t missing it again as the transformation overtook her. Going from a short, slender brunette girl to something hulking and green. Like Shrek if he’d actually hit the gym, dressed in more tribal clothes, with yellow eyes, pointed ears, and a darkly amused expression.
“Still think I’m adorable?”
Her voice had transformed too, deep and croaking, as her new body loomed over Rex’s prone form. Even as he tried to pick himself up, she whipped out a haymaker, sending the teen flying through the air. I could get behind the first punch, just as something to teach him a lesson. But this might be getting excessive.
Especially seeing him spit out a couple of teeth in the process.
“You little bitch…”
He whipped his teeth, now glowing, at her with the palm of his hand… only to have the teeth do absolutely nothing as they exploded against her broad, flat chest.
“Aww! Now that’s adorable.”
Picking up one of his sticks, he looked at her with a mean glare. “I’m gonna blast that smile off your stupid. Green. Face.”
To his credit, Robot did try to intervene as he called out to them. “Please stop, this is hardly constructive.”
Of course, Monster Girl and Rex were just in different weight classes. She was a heavy hitter, maybe not the kind that could entirely be in my own league, but her punches might hurt somewhat. Theoretically. Look, what I was saying was that she was beating his ass, and this was getting to be a bit much.
“This isn’t okay,” I huffed, already floating a few inches off of the ground.
“Agreed,” Invincible spoke, uncomfortable with the turn that things had taken.
Atom Eve, Rex’s girlfriend, wasn’t even appearing to be all that concerned about the matter. If anything, I’d peg down her expression as one of schadenfreude at his predicament.
She shrugged. “He asked for it.”
A weird take to have concerning your significant other, but maybe Atom Eve was just kind of a bitch in her own way. Who knew? It’d explain why she’d been dating Rex. Invincible didn’t seem keen to let the beating continue, as he darted forward, propelling himself in the air and catching her fist.
“Okay, that’s enough!”
Monster Girl whipped him to the wall with a dismissive swing of her arm. “Get lost, boy scout.”
Of course, that didn’t work so well when the person in question wasn’t someone you could casually throw around. He stopped himself at the wall, boots planted, using it to propel himself back toward Monster Girl in an instant. “I said, enough!”
The punch he delivered wasn’t the best he probably could have done, but it was definitely one that’d taken more advantage of his own unique powers than the way he’d been fighting before. Someone had learned some lessons from getting the stuffing kicked out of them. Granted, the problem now was that Monster Girl went flying, ass over teakettle across the arena, with her transformation popping right before she hit the wall.
It was a small blessing that most of the momentum had bled off when Monster Girll hit the wall. Otherwise, Invincible would have had to learn a new, very messy lesson about appropriate force. Which was naturally when someone who either wasn’t paying attention or wanted to mischaracterize events spoke up.
“Invincible hit that little girl!”
I scoffed, looking around for the source of that murmur. “Alright, that’s not even a fair representation of what happened, and you know it! Who said that?”
No one wanted to fess up to the obvious slander, and just searching for them kept me from noticing whatever seemed to be happening in the arena. At least, I could only see them talking, not paying attention to their words, and see Rex flipping Invincible the bird for whatever reason. I could only chalk this up to wounded pride or teenage drama as everyone vacated the arena.
Before long everyone was back up with the rest of the former hopefuls, standing in front of Robot once again. Rex looked bruised, battered, and probably with no small amount of damage internally. However, he was still alive, which was likely more than most could say in his shoes. Monster Girl barely looked touched at all.
“As I was saying,” Robot started up again, the faintest hint of genuine irritation in his voice for once. “Welcome to the Guardians of the Globe, Monster Girl.”
Rex, meanwhile, could only groan off to the side. “Fuck, I think I’m gonna shit blood…”
“Along with Rex-Splode.” A pause. “Once he’s recovered.”
Yes, these were the preeminent defenders that the world had to call upon. Glancing over at them and everyone else who’d made it into the roster…
This planet genuinely might be screwed.
Author’s Notes
Outside of some very basic changes to the roster, most of what happened in canon remains the same, at least for this scene, and Genji gets a taste of what being a global superhero actually entails. I kept some parts in because, if I’m being honest, Rex getting his ass beat by Monster Girl was just funny.
I’m a simple guy.
Additionally, if you would like to read ahead, you can find up to ten chapters ahead via the linktree in my profile. For the time being, all adult content like future smut in anything I write, will be on , though in due time I'll likely try to get the processing and authentication through on to be able to post it there as well. So be mindful of where you're supporting me.